Looking at two new functions with software update (POLL)

[Alex_Valdes]

Agreed. I also wonder if the like/dislike buttons will cause a drop in interaction. It’s pretty easy to post, “Thanks for that great post.” and a post like that, in my opinion, helps positively build the community in ways that a click of the “like” button won’t. So, I click “dislike” on the “like/dislike” buttons.

As for the “share” button: I don’t like the idea, especially for Asylum posts. Speaking only for myself: I’ve always enjoyed that WB posts stay in WB (for the most part — I’m sure there are exceptions).

I was thinking the opposite on the post-specific like button. I often appreciate a point made or information provided, but pause to consider whether others will be annoyed on opening a thread only to see that the “new post” is just a “thanks for posting.” I usually do anyway, but I could understand someone being mildly miffed after opening a couple of threads only to see “thanks.”

If the like/dislike are for threads instead of posts, I can’t see the purpose

Agree with this. I use another non-wine forum and I find the ability to like a post is helpful, particularly as it makes it easy to simply agree with a post, instead of a bunch of additional posts saying +1, thanks or repeating the first good response in slightly different words. Keeps it tidy and allows subsequent posts to be more focused on additional commentary or disagreement.

I do note there is no dislike option and that makes sense to me. If you disagree, it adds to the conversation to know why.

Liking a post within a thread has no impact other than you can see how many people and who liked it.

From a product perspective, I would favor an “up/down vote” button like you get in something like stackoverflow, especially when people are asking questions. The usecase being 1) other posters agreeing inline without having to have agreement all over the thread and 2) readers can search for the most upvoted.

This is semantically different than “like” and can live alongside a like button (or general reaction button). Both have their place, though reactions have a lot of the baggage people call out. If I could have one I would have up/down vote

[Cris_Whetstone]

My concern with ‘like/dislike’ is that it becomes a beauty contest, of sorts. Every single topic/thread is rated, thus some that might be otherwise excellent get avoided, and others are spammed with likes for no good reason.

In the forums I participate on the likes are also on the individual posts. I think the thread likes are more useful in that they point out which ones have better information versus those where some people are having personal back and forths.

I don’t really like the individual post likes because they do exactly what you are worried about. They encourage people to merely throw out one liners and generally try to be notable versus adding content.

As for the social sharing people can already do that. It’s just more cumbersome now. I think making it easier is a net positive regardless of the Luddites around. To them i would remind that THIS is a form of social media. It’s just older so more acceptable to us older folk. It’s not likely to live broadly forever.

here’s a great feature request: make all embedded links open in a new tab like most other sites. it actually used to be hard coded here but changed at some point.

YES! A no-brainer and pretty much the standard now. There is no reason you should have to right click to open links in 2020.

[Max_S1]

My concern with ‘like/dislike’ is that it becomes a beauty contest, of sorts. Every single topic/thread is rated, thus some that might be otherwise excellent get avoided, and others are spammed with likes for no good reason.

I initially voted for Like/Dislike, but after thinking about it I’d vote against it. I don’t think it adds any value.

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

Where do we vote for the improved search function?

[Dan_Hammer]

Flyertalk has used the Like button for several years… successfully. When I like a post, the poster gets an alert. Others can see this. Sometimes there are multiple likes to a post. I may have been tempted to post a response; but by liking, it saves me the effort (and WB the bandwith).
The like button has not been abused.

Sharing to social media helps to expand the WB brand. Others may disagree.

[David_Bu3ker]

Both changes just sound like a further move towards a single mega platform model. If I wanted my detailed tasting notes on Facebook I would post them there. I don’t need a share button here to do that.

[Curtis_Chen]

Yes to both. Always down to see additional features, really.

[ToddFrench]

At this stage, we’re at no new features, as there’s a stronger dislike, by far, not to have social share (which I completely don’t understand) and even-up with yes/no on the likes

[mmarcellus]

Both changes just sound like a further move towards a single mega platform model. If I wanted my detailed tasting notes on Facebook I would post them there. I don’t need a share button here to do that.

+1

I’m not interested in sharing my thoughts with the world. And while, of course, I would opt out of doing any sharing, I would be share adjacent. That’s still too close for me. Let this site continue to be a refuge for the anti-social among us.

[Ian_Dorin]

I’m quite surprised with the number of ‘nos’ on social share - why wouldn’t people want to share WB discussions in their social networks, expand the reach and discussion?

Ditto.

I’m either way on the like/dislike. I think the number of pages that a topic generates tells you everything you need to know (and probably be reading)

[Max_S1]

At this stage, we’re at no new features, as there’s a stronger dislike, by far, not to have social share (which I completely don’t understand) and even-up with yes/no on the likes

I voted no on both, and virtually nothing about my experience on this site will change if you implement either. I worked for a couple of community-based small businesses in the past and we found if you just implement what you want, there will be a little grumbling but nobody really cares.

[Anton_D]

My concern with ‘like/dislike’ is that it becomes a beauty contest, of sorts. Every single topic/thread is rated, thus some that might be otherwise excellent get avoided, and others are spammed with likes for no good reason.

This.

[ToddFrench]

At this stage, we’re at no new features, as there’s a stronger dislike, by far, not to have social share (which I completely don’t understand) and even-up with yes/no on the likes

I voted no on both, and virtually nothing about my experience on this site will change if you implement either. I worked for a couple of community-based small businesses in the past and we found if you just implement what you want, there will be a little grumbling but nobody really cares.

Yeah, ‘little grumbling’ has NEVER been a part of THIS community, let me assure you of that!

[Max_S1]

Yeah, ‘little grumbling’ has NEVER been a part of THIS community, let me assure you of that!

Ha, its the internet, everyone has a “valid” opinion!

[Jeff_Vaughan]

I voted no on both. It would like “agree/disagree” on posts though. Might save all the +1 posts.

[Scott_Brunson]

Another feature idea: a “douche” button for when I don’t want to block someone (“foe”) but also want to remind myself who I’m dealing with…

-like-

Def need like button after that post.

[CFu]

I voted no on both. It would like “agree/disagree” on posts though. Might save all the +1 posts.

Isn’t like/dislike pretty much the same as agree/disagree

[Jeff_Vaughan]

Charlie, really? Maybe in the social media world they have become synonymous but I know that you know the difference between liking something and agreeing with something. I agree that I have to pay taxes, but I don’t like it.

[Alex_Valdes]

to all the like at-the-post level detractors: do you believe, on balance, the experience of reading threads would be worse with likes? I hear the beauty contest concern, but a few questions:

1. Is this just a dislike/worry about reactions? Would you prefer or be against other high density information functionality like “agree/disagree”, “upvote/downvote” etc?
2. Even if it is a reaction feature can have downsides, do you believe the informational (and potential engagement) upside is not worth it?
3. As you read threads, do you think they would be easier to read without reaction/agreement posts? Is this not bothersome enough to risk the issues with reactions?

Products/sites like Slack, GitHub, Stackoverflow, Confluence, WhatsApp, etc. all incorporate such functionality. Not that you should do something because others do it, but they must believe these functions make their products better so worth stopping to consider. From my perspective, while each is meeting different usecases, they all have high overlap with the usecases facing our community (especially slack).

Of course, you have to think about what you are optimizing for. I would optimize for 1) quality engagement by community members, 2) make it easy to access the knowledge built up over time on this board. The board as-is mostly accomplishes (1) but makes it hard to accomplish (2).

A good example of (1) not working well is the offline database thread. People ask and there is a reply when you are added. That adds a lot of posts to a thread where it’s unnecessary. If the owner reacted “thumbs up” when complete it would confer the add in a higher density way without cluttering the thread.

To hit (2), I believe you need to 1) make it easy to keep information “clean” and 2) make it easy to find the most salient information. There is a lot of push for better search, but if your information is not well structured your search is not going to be good. This is why I am pushing for agree/disagree or up/down vote functionality.

I am more tepid on reactions but, on balance, I don’t find them as problematic as people fear. These should not be conflated with more targeted functions like agree/disagree because they are attempting to convey different information.

Anyway, my 0.02.

[Siun_O_Connell]

I think both change the tone of the community in ways that feel unnecessary.

Back in the early days of DailyKos, I refused to participate because of the rankings and see no reason to agree to this now. It shifts the community dynamic dramatically, making it more intimidating for new people to post and more elitist in tone overall when you have rankings/ratings. Please no.

I’d enjoy seeing a simple “like” option which would be convenient so often when I want to say good point or agree or thinking of you without adding a full post … if I “dislike,” I think I should put in the extra work to explain why not simply click which encourages bad dynamics. And this should be on individual posts, not threads.

Sharing on social media is so standard these days but I do enjoy the feeling that WB is it’s own community and more a conversation we are all having, not simply another social media content space. Why change?

A lot of these types of changes or added features have subtle but real impacts on the culture of an online forum … be careful.